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Minoru Jacket: Envelope Back and PDF

Hello everyone! I’m catching up on a few things you asked for, starting with the fabric requirements and sizing information for the Minoru Jacket. Look for more posts on the Sew-Along coming soon! I’d also love to feature a few more Minoru Jackets by my pattern testers, too. It’s amazing that you can give people the exact same pattern to work with, and end up with completely different finished products!

By request, I’ve posted the Envelope Front and Back images and PDF files for the Minoru Jacket. Sizing, fabric requirements, and back view illustrations are all here for your reference.

The blue colour is amazing in real life! It looks so pretty next to the golden yellow of the Lonsdale Dress pattern.

A couple of people have asked me whether you can make the jacket without the hood. Absolutely! The hooded jacket is View A, and the hoodless jacket is View B. The fabric requirements for each version are different because of the hood.

Here’s the Envelope Back image, so you can see the information:

I’ve also included a PDF file to save to your computer. Or if you have the iPhone, you can save it to your iBooks! Handy for flipping through when you’re at the fabric store. Or print out a copy to take with you when you go fabric-shopping.

PS. Like the look of this pattern? Sign up to the mailing list for the pre-sale link and special offer. I’m excited to report that presales are going extremely well so far. Just a few days left to pre-order your copy of the Minoru Jacket!

About Tasia

I'm Tasia St. Germaine, and I'm the founder of Sewaholic Patterns. I began blogging as a creative outlet back in 2010, and started Sewaholic Patterns shortly after. I write about sewing projects, post tutorials and sewing tips, and share what it's like behind the scenes of a growing sewing pattern company. I love cycling and commute to the studio by bike most days. When I'm not sewing, I enjoy knitting and love making cosy sweaters for our rainy Vancouver weather.

I liked this jacket as soon as I saw the pre-order email, but wasn’t going to order it because it wasn’t filling a void in my current wardrobe (and I try to be very practical with what patterns I buy and choose to sew). However, this jacket has been on my mind ever since the email came out and seeing all of the pattern testers versions on the other blogs that I follow has been very convincing. I now think I need this jacket ;)

I know the feeling! Sometimes I won’t be too excited about a pattern until I see a version that really appeals to me, or suits my style. There are more pattern testers’ versions appearing this week too! I’ll link to them here so you can all see their jackets. :)

Pattern ordered!! I was a little worried about it being a little out of my league, but with the impending :) sewalong…I think it would be a great way to accomplish my goal of sewing a coat/jacket :) Now…onto fabrics! Tasia, I’m finding a lot of “stretch twills” with about 3% lycra content; providing the lining is out of similar stretch fabric, do you think that a “stretch woven” would work??

You could easily use a stretch twill for this jacket! And it’s up to you whether to use a stretch lining or not. If you aren’t too worried about keeping the stretch, you can use any lining. If stretch is important for your jacket, then yes, find a stretch lining! I’ve seen plenty of RTW stretch garments lined with non-stretch lining. You get a little bit of give, from the stretch fabric, but the lining keeps it from sagging out.

Thanks for posting this!
I have another question: is this jacket suitable for lining with batting to make it warmer? I mean, is this something that’s easy to do or would that be a pain? If so, what kind of filler would you use?
Thanks again!

You could definitely line this jacket with a warmer lining! There are flannel-backed linings which I love, and quilted or padded linings. Or, you could back your lining pieces with a flannel as interlining. I’d suggest either going up a size, to account for the extra bulk of the lining, or remembering this when you fit your jacket. Adding extra layers will make it slightly tighter than if you’d lined with regular, thin lining.

Personally I love Kasha lining – it’s a polyester lining with a brushed flannel backing so it adds a bit of warmth. And it’s really easy to cut and sew with. If you wanted it REALLY warm, then add another layer of flannel (a cotton flannel will be fine) or use batting for interlining. I worry it might be too bulky though, or restrict your movement. It all depends on your main fabric too!

Hope this helps, sort of! I’d decide on your main fabric first – if you use something warmer, and a Kasha flannel-backed lining, that might be enough!

Another question about fabrics- I love the laminated fabrics (especially from Amy Butler and Anna Maria Horner) but never quite know what to do with them. I love the idea of a brightly patterned jacket, but do you think something like that would be appropriate to use with this pattern?

That is a good question. I don’t have an immediate answer as I’ve never worked with these fabrics or even touched them in person – just seen them online! For the Minoru Jacket, the neckline is gathered, so that may be a bit hard to do on a laminated fabric. Then again maybe it’ll be fine! If you can get your hands on some, try and gather it with your hands and see how it looks.
One of the pattern testers used an awesome graphic print for hers, it looked incredibly cool! So using printed fabrics totally works.
I hope this helps!

Yes! Oh, sorry! I saw your comment on another post and missed replying to it. Yes! It would be awesome in an athletic knit. Even sweatshirt fleece, or French terry, or something along those lines. It’ll be a super flattering sweatshirt! I would love to see it if you make it in athletic knit. :)

You could line it with mesh, like sports mesh, that would allow it to stretch while covering up the insides of the jacket. That would be my best choice, either that or a lightweight jersey knit. You could leave it unlined but you’d have to work out when to finish the edges and may have to change the order of construction to ensure there aren’t any messy edges showing. But I’d go for a lining so you can still have the inside pockets.

I just bought the Minoru/Lonsdale combo. I’ve been putting off purchasing your patterns (even though they are so damn lovely) because I am a hourglass shape (with a big bust) and I will have to do a FBA to add a couple of inches – and FBA’s scare me!!!
But the Minoru…. {*sigh*} “I must have it!”
I’m looking forward to trying something new (FBA’s) with your patterns.

I hope when you do the sew along you can include a FBA. Pretty please… :)

I wasn’t going to get this because in NZ it can be hard to find a decent range of fabrics (I don’t think I’d even try to look for something water-resistant) and shipping is always astronomical. I caved though when I saw the test pattern one you posted the other day and I realised I could totally do it out of easy-to-find cotton drill or something similar, and it would be a fantastic casual jacket! Hooray!

Oh, and side note: I finally made a Pendrell the other day and it’s awesome. I can’t believe that I’m not even a pear shape (more hourglass) but every size 6 of your patterns has fitted absolutely perfectly, with no need for adjustments at all. I think I let out the side seams on the Crescent a couple of mm but that’s all. I LOVE THAT.

I’ve been wary of trying your patterns just because I am not pear shaped and I am larger chested, that’s why I signed up to be a pattern tester in the hopes of finding out if I could easily alter your patterns to fit my shape, and I loved the idea of buying locally designed patterns if they would work for me, but sadly I was too late to be picked for testing. When I saw this pattern I thought a jacket would be easy to adapt because it’s not meant to be super tight in the chest anyway and I loved the elastic waist to create shape, so after much debating I ordered it this morning. After reading Lucy’s comment about the Pendrell I’m even more hopeful the jacket will work for me, I love the style and the hidden hood, especially for here. There aren’t enough nice jackets with hoods out there for those rainy days you just don’t want to carry an umbrella.

Just wanted to tell you how ridiculously excited I am… I just bought the pattern (along with the Lonsdale Dress pattern)… Cannot wait for it to ship to me here in South Africa! The jacket is going to be perfect for next winter, although I might make it with the sewalong already.

Thank you so much for doing the guest post on waterproofing and this piece so early. I’m really thinking about fabrics and trying to figure out what direction I want to go in. I was thinking that I was going to choose a wool or micro fleece, since I am a bit nervous over some of the higher tech fabrics. But, maintenance did some repair on our heat sealer at work yesterday and I was literally handed a 14″x14″ piece of industrial teflon coated mesh to dispose of. So, I suddenly have exactly what I need to do the seam tape as described in the tutorial. That looks like a sign!

Hi Tasia! On the envelope you recommend cotton twill or canvas. Would the Minoru also work in, say, a lightweight wool? I ask because I have a lovely mustard wool that has been patiently waiting for the right pattern, and I think the Minoru’s wide collar would show it off nicely =D

Hi Tasia. I too have just ordered my first ever pattern from you. I went for the combo with the Pendrell, it is already really hot here in Australia and I need some nice summer tops. I am REALLY excited about this pattern. I am not sure about what fabric I will use yet but am interested in lightweight wool option too. Looking forward to seeing other variations this week.

Hi! You could definitely make this jacket in Polartec. It’ll be a softer jacket than my sample, but cosy and warm! For lining I would suggest a mesh, the lining is important for the construction of the jacket, but you want something light enough to get the benefits of the Polartec.
I hope this helps!

Ordered! Almost forgot but how could I forget such a lovely pattern. I was also on the fence about this but as fellow local Vancouverite….I really need a jacket with a hood! A nice big hood to keep out the rain too! And I do love the feminine shaping — been wearing a boxy puffy jacket since my other jackets aren’t warm enough. Can’t wait to sew this one up! I have all the patterns Tasia, keep up the good work! I’ll be a fan for life. :P

Hi Tasia, I pre-ordered the jacket and I am looking forward to receive it. I was a bit scared at the beginning because it looks quite difficult, but with the sew-along going on, I am actually going to learn lots of new technics, that’s perfect! I am going to look for a bright fabric this week end.
Have a nice week end.

I am seriously considering this pattern to make a jacket–it looks practical and lovely. I would like to make it in a wool but I can’t quite decide what. I have this lovely lt/med weight wool that is plaid. I noticed that the pattern notes mentioned that it is not suitable for plaids–why is that?

Hi Katie! I’ve put that it’s not suitable because of the gathering around the neckline – the plaid lines will look really wonky and strange. Also, it’ll be tricky to match plaids across the raglan seams.
However, if you love plaids, and have enough fabric (a bit extra) in order to match the plaids, give it a try! I’d suggest laying down the pattern pieces on the fabric, and seeing where the plaid-lines end up. You might like how it looks! Or not mind if it doesn’t match. It’s up to you, but I personally thought it would be challenging to work with plaids and the end result wouldn’t be as nice as I wanted it to be. So I said no plaids, so that people wouldn’t be disappointed with their final result.

You could also draw the plaid-lines on the pattern pieces and pin it to yourself, to see how it’ll look in plaids. Also think of the waistline elastic, and how it’ll look with plaid lines – if the elastic stitch lines are off from the plaid lines it’ll look messy! But I am also really picky when it comes to plaids.